
Growing Pains
Citrus Heights Mayor Jeannie Bruins on changes since cityhood, including plans to attract more businesses and jobs
Jeannie Bruins knows Citrus Heights; she’s lived there for 35 years and has served on its city council for five terms. She also co-chaired the campaign to give Citrus Heights cityhood in 1996. Comstock’s spoke with Bruins about how the community has changed and what’s in store for the future.

Developers and Unions ‘Not Close’ on Deal to Spur Housing Construction
In January, two of the biggest adversaries in California housing politics appeared on the verge of detente.

Slow Progress for Fast Speeds
Two years after partnering with Verizon, few Sacramento neighborhoods have 5G availability
Sacramento boasted of being one of the first four test cities for Verizon’s 5G network, with officials calling it a major step toward the future. But nearly a year after launch, none of the city’s eight council districts have full 5G coverage — and it isn’t clear when any of them will.

Business and Nonprofits Offer Free Programs to Help California Inmates
Nonprofit groups and businesses have launched programs to help inmates better prepare for life and a career outside the walls of a prison with the goal of nurturing productive citizens and reducing recidivism rates.

CalChamber-Backed Study Says Service Tax Would Disadvantage California Businesses
A study backed by California Chamber of Commerce has found that adopting a business service tax — i.e., a tax on lawyers, accountants and consultants — would hurt the economy and put the state at a competitive disadvantage.

Should Public Pensions Invest in Uber and Lyft?
When Uber and Lyft began trading on Wall Street as idealistic, tech-disrupting startups, some of their earliest investment came from the nation’s largest public pension funds.

Despite Sharp Growth in Electric Cars, Vehicle Emissions Keep Rising
It is tempting to employ any number of puns when considering California’s transportation future: The state is at a crossroads, its policies could run out of gas, dangerous curves lie ahead.

Marketing for Mobility
SMUD CEO Arlen Orchard envisions new center making the region a major player in the transportation revolution
A group of public and private sector leaders in Sacramento are working to craft a protocol for self-driving vehicles that could be replicated in other municipalities across the country.

Status Check: Isleton Slowly Revives
Signs of progress in tiny city with history of big problems
For the first time in several years, something at least resembling the storied Crawdad Festival of years past is going to be held in Isleton.

How For-profit College Bills Could Affect California
Jeanny Morris had a 1-year-old baby and a resume of dead-end retail jobs when she enrolled in the Marinello Schools of Beauty cosmetology program in 2012. She used her welfare benefits to pay for transportation to and from school where, she says, staff pressured her to take out student loans to pay for supplies they had previously promised to provide, such as books, drapes and combs.